December 7, 2012

What The Foyer?

Ever since we moved in, our foyer has looked like this:

Beautiful, right? ;)

Let me show you around a little more:

Ignore the red garland in the photo below. I was trying to decorate our staircase but the garland strands are too short and I've been too lazy to take it down sooo yeah ... let's just focus on the foyer :)

It's a blank slate full of potential but it has me completely stumped. Why? It's two stories tall and the ceiling height is just shy of 20'!

That means that anything I decide to hang on the wall (artwork, a mirror, shelves, etc.) would have to be massive in order to be in proportion to the space. Massive anything = massive budget :(

That being said, I've gathered some ideas and *think* I have an idea of what I want to do with the skinny space.

The ceilings in this house aren't nearly as tall as mine but I love the idea of grouping a bunch of large-ish pieces of art together to give the illusion of one giant piece. Plus, a few pieces of semi-large art would cost a lot less than one massive piece!

Who doesn't have a fauxdenza in their house? Ok, obviously I don't but fauxdenza's are all the rage nowadays and building one out of some IKEA cabinetry could be fun! Customize a top, mount everything to the wall, and voila! You have a floating credenza that'll impress your friends :)

I was initially saving this idea for my staircase but if I were to do it, I think it'd be easier to hang the photos in the foyer with the ladder on the flat ground since balancing a ladder on the stairs is not my idea of fun. And just like in idea #2, buying smaller pieces of art to group together would probably be more cost effective than buying one massive piece. It'd take a while to get that many pieces but it could be fun to add to the collection over time!

So yeah, that's where my head is at at the moment. I'd love to know what you think! Keep in mind that the space is skinny (about 4.5' wide) so any piece of furniture I put in there (console table, fauxdenza, chair, etc.) would need to be shallow.

Also, painting is out. Why? Like I said above, the foyer is two stories tall which means that scaffolding would have to be involved and I'm terrified of heights. The foyer also opens up to our staircase and entire upstairs, our loft, and our living room/dining room/kitchen which means there's no good stopping point for a line of paint, unfortunately.

What would you do with the space? Have a different idea? Please share!

14 comments

I love all of your inspirations. I have the art gallery wall in my staircase and I agree with you. It's scary to balance the ladder on the stairs. Not fun at all.But collecting all the frames actually wasn't that cheap! Can't wait to see what you'll do!

I know you said paint is out, but have you considered hiring out? I think a new color could really warm up the place. Also a consideration while you have the painters there: stenciling or wallpaper. I think it would bring that huge impact you're looking for!

You've got really freaking high ceilings!!! I don't think ours even hit 8ft downstairs and are even shorter upstairs. I like all the ideas. I have no idea how you'd safely lug a mirror that huge around but there are those tall closet/wall/door size mirrors that you might find someone is selling on craigslit or something and maybe you could do a DIY frame with it (just like framing out a huge mirror in the bathroom).

Julia - Ah, didn't think of the frames. Those can add up quick! Maybe I can mix some canvas pieces that don't need to be framed in with framed pieces to help balance out the cost a little more.

Kim - Hiring out is an option! I know an excellent paint guy but I'd need to save up for a while before I give him a ring. I think I might paint the back of my front door to hold me over until then :)

Crystal - I know! We have 10' ceilings downstairs and 9' ones upstairs - it's awesome! I was thinking about buying a large mirror and then framing it out myself but knowing my luck, that's the time one of my DIY projects would fail and I'd have mirror/glass shards everywhere haha

I LOVE the huge mirror and console table. But like you said, I'm sure that will cost a pretty penny. But who knows, maybe a nearby hotel will go out of business and you'll score a giant mirror that you can frame.

I feel ya on the crazy tall walls. The only reason why I haven't painted our great room or bedroom is because we have vaulted ceilings, and we'll need scaffolding. I'm not afraid of the height. I'm afraid of the cost to rent scaffolding.

I would paint the front door and surrounding wall to break up all the white. Maybe you can go between the studs and create a built in niche along that long wall for storage and a built in console. You could go as high as you like. Also, an affordable alternative to a large mirror is to purchase a bathroom mirror and frame it with mirror mate. Look forward to seeing your final results

I'm Caitlin and I'm a designer, a DIYer, and a styler. I live in the desert with my fiancé and our 3 rescue dogs. We're in the process of planning our wedding while continuing to make our first house into a home!

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